Improvement in balls for masts



E. C. SEELY.

' Improvement in Balls for Masts No. 130,825, Patented Aug. 27,1872.

UNITED STATES PATENT Orrnnr.

EDWIN o. SEELY, or PORT MEDWAY, CANADA.

IMPROVEMENT IN BALLS FOR MASTS.

I Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 130,825, dated August 27, 1872.

SPECIFICATION. To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWIN COLLINS SEELY,

of 'the village of Port Medway, in the district of Liverpool, in the Province of Nova Scotia, Canada, ship-owner, have invented new and useful Improvements on Balls for Masts of Ships and other Vessels 8270.; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawing, where- Figure 1. represents a plan of my improved ball. Fig. 2 represents an elevation of my improved ball. Fig. 3 represents a vertical section on line A A, Fig. 1. Fig. 4 represents a vertical section on line B B,-Fig. 1. Fig. 5 represents a horizontal section on line 0 C, Fig. 2. Fig. 6 represents a section of modification.

This invention has reference to improvements on the balls used as an ornamental finish at the top of masts and flag-poles, &c., of ships and other vessels, and, also, may be applied, with equally good results, to those on shore. The balls now in use for this purpose are generally made of wood, turned solid, and covered with gold or other metallic leaf, and have a great tendency to attract the electricity of the atmosphere. The object of my invention is to produce a ball of great durability and beauty which will not have a tendency to attract the lightning. This is accomplished by making a ball of glass, or other suitable transparent material, which is adapted to be ornamented upon the inside with golddeaf, or otherwise beautified.

In the drawing hereunto annexed similar letters of reference indicate like parts.

Letter a is the ball, of any desired shape, made, in this case, of glass, and may be blown or cast with a hollow space, b. By this hollow space a double advantage is gained-first, a saving in material; and, second, it provides a surface upon which gold-leaf or other metallic substance can be laid for giving the ball the external appearance of gold, silver, &c. Thus the metallic substance being on the inside of the ball has no affinity for the electricity of the atmosphere, and in this position is also protected from becoming tarnished or weatherbeaten. To arrange this ball for the ordinary signal or flag halyards I cast it in the ordinary manner of casting glass, and in doing so I form in it the groove 0 and passages 61 cl for the halyards to pass through; and by the groove 0 being made semicircular, combined with its very smooth surface, it answers all the purposes of the pulley used in the ordinary balls.

As shown in the drawing, where the passages I d are formed I prefer to thicken the side, for the purpose of giving strength and to keep rain from entering. In casting the ball a I also provide a step or recess, e, to receive the extreme endf of the mast, as shown in Figs. 3, 4, and 6; but if the ball is only a simple one, and not required for halyards, then, for cheapness, it may be'blown with an obtuse indentation inside, at the top, as indicated. by the dotted lines D in Fig. 6.

Having now described the construction and operation of my invention,to which I have given the name of SEELYS Improved Balls for Ships Masts, what I claim as my invention is- A ball for masts, constructed of glass or other transparent material, made hollow, and adapted to be coated upon the inside, as de scribed, as a new article ofmanufacture.

Port Medway, 24th day of April, A. D. 1872.

i v EDWIN COLLINS SEELY.

Signed in our presence:

JOHN D. McOLnARN, HENRY W. ALBRo. 

